Mark Rowe previews The Security Event, the three-day show at the Birmingham NEC from next Tuesday to Thursday, April 28 to 30.
If you have the time to spare, this, as for some years post-covid, is the premier place for private security people in the British Isles to gather. In terms of venue and time of year, it has replaced the IFSEC exhibition that bestrode the 2000s and 2010s; indeed, one of next week’s speakers in conversation the other week called the show ‘IFSEC’ in error. Unless you are paid to be there as an exhibitor, you probably don’t have the time to spare; at best, a single day. That will have to do to arrange to bump into people, put names to faces or to make new connections, and to listen to some speakers – not only about protective security, but in neighbouring halls about lone worker protection, fire safety and health and safety, and cyber. If you are one to do continued professional development you can claim accredited CPD points with the Security Institute, whether you are one of the Chartered Security Professionals (CSyPs) whereby you have to each year maintain that status, or an Institute Fellow (FSyl) or looking to top up CPD points generally.
Martyn’s Law
A feature of last year’s show was the euphoric reception given to Martyn’s Law campaigner Figen Murray, speaking weeks after the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025 had become law. Equally important is the recently published statutory guidance by the Home Office. Given the deadlines for conference speaking, the guidance didn’t come out quite in time to feature explicitlyย in 2026, although no doubt it will crop up; one of the day one morning speakers is Shaun Hipgrave, Director Protect and Prepare at theย Home Office. And among the end user speakers is Steve Dowson of the English Football League (the second to fourth tiers, where attendances can easily reach five figures, placing grounds comfortably in the enhanced tier of the Protect Duty, more commonly known as Martyn’s Law). Also at work on making Martyn’s Law come into force is its regulator, the Security Industry Authority (SIA), whose Chief Executive Michelle Russell is a speaker on day two, and three.
Dinner
Under the banner of the Outstanding Security Performance Awards (OSPAs), on the Wednesday the criminologist Prof Martin Gill is holding another evening dinner at the Birmingham Metropole on the NEC campus for the presenting of the annual Workplace Violence Reduction Awardsย (WVRAs).
Exhibitors
Among the exhibitors is the power supplies manufacturer Dycon, which has joined the official Made in Britain campaign.
The show in brief
The Security Event runs from Tuesday to Thursday, April 28 to 30, doors opening each day at 10am and closing at 4.30pm on days one and two, and 3.30pm on the final day. Visit https://www.thesecurityevent.co.uk/.
Photo by Mark Rowe: NEC security patrol car parked outside, as viewed through a hall wall porthole.
